admonish

verb ad·mon·ish \ ad-ˈmä-nish \

|Updated on: 4 Sep 2018

Tip: Synonym Guide

Examples: admonish in a Sentence

Editor's Note: When Should You Use admonish?

Definition of admonish

admonished; admonishing; admonishes

transitive verb

1 a : to indicate duties or obligations to

b : to express warning or disapproval to especially in a gentle, earnest, or solicitous manner

were admonished for being late

2 : to give friendly earnest advice or encouragement to

admonished them to be careful

… users are admonished to change passwords regularly …
—Mark Pothier

3 : to say (something) as advice or a warning

The sign admonished, "Watch your step."

"Please be silent while I tell my story," LaPautre admonished.
—Louise Erdrich

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admonisher

noun, plural admonishers

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admonishment

play \-mənt\ noun, plural admonishments

See admonish defined for English-language learners

See admonish defined for kids

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Examples of admonish in a Sentence

"You landed in back of him," said Paul, my guide and friend. As he admonished me, the fish turned obligingly, opened its mouth, wide and white, and engulfed my fly. —Peter Kaminsky, New York Times, 17 June 2001
He is sympathetic but never condescending, or patronizing, or moralizing. His purpose is not to admonish or deplore but to understand. —C. Vann Woodward, New York Times Book Review, 5 Feb. 1989
Cops are, from the first day in the academy, admonished that juveniles must not be shot unless in dire emergency … —Joseph Wambaugh, Lines and Shadows, 1984
They were admonished to take advantage of the opportunity.
my physician is always admonishing me to eat more healthy foods

Recent Examples of admonish from the Web

One official admonished them to keep quiet about the firefighters' deaths.

— anne ryman, azcentral, "Granite Mountain Hotshots: An untold story from the day 19 firefighters died," 23 June 2018
On the other side of this spectrum, Yasir’s family and friends admonish him for being a man without a clear path.

— robyn bahr, The Hollywood Reporter, "'Love Is_': TV Review," 18 June 2018
Flynn’s largesse has its roots in gleaning, a biblical instruction taken from Leviticus that admonishes farmers to leave crops for people in poverty.

— alfred lubrano, Philly.com, "In Chesco, volunteer farmers grow food for neighbors in need," 5 June 2018
The inspector admonished the university to handle lab animals appropriately.

— nanette asimov, San Francisco Chronicle, "UC Berkeley researchers’ errors resulted in deaths of 22 lab animals," 16 May 2018
As the story spread, Mrs. Trump’s communications director published an extraordinary statement on Tuesday that admonished the news media for reporting on the plagiarism claims.

— james hohmann, Washington Post, "The Daily 202: Primary results confirm 2018 is a terrible year to be a House Republican," 9 May 2018
As the story spread, Melania Trump’s communications director published an extraordinary statement on Tuesday that admonished the news media for reporting on the plagiarism claims.

— katie rogers, BostonGlobe.com, "Did Melania Trump plagiarize from the Obamas again? The White House has a scathing answer," 8 May 2018
Going 6-1 against the Pirates and Mets revealed a team finding its familiar groove for the summer, thriving on controversy created by pitchers accused of being too soft and by slides admonished for being too hard.

— david haugh, chicagotribune.com, "Jake Arrieta, returning to Wrigley Field with Phillies, transformed Cubs into a team to be feared," 4 June 2018
The Atlantic’s Ta-Nehisi Coates even spent 5,000 words admonishing Mr. West for straying too far from his betters’ thinking.

— jason whitlock, WSJ, "Kanye Had One of the Best Tweets of All Time," 7 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'admonish.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

When Should You Use admonish?

Admonish was borrowed in the 14th century (via Anglo-French) from Vulgar Latin admonestare, which is itself an alteration of the Latin verb admonēre, meaning "to warn." Admonēre, in turn, was formed by the combination of the prefix ad- and monēre, "to warn." Other descendants of monēre in English include monitor, monitory ("giving a warning"), premonition, and even a now archaic synonym of admonish, monish. Incidentally, admonish has a number of other synonyms as well, including reprove, rebuke, reprimand, reproach, and chide.

Origin and Etymology of admonish

Middle English amonysshen, admonisshen, amonescen, alteration (with assimilation to the verbal suffix -issh, -esce, borrowed from Anglo-French -iss-, going back to the Latin inceptive suffix -ēsc-, -īsc-) of amonesten, borrowed from Anglo-French amonester, going back to Vulgar Latin *admonestāre, probably derivative of *admonestus, past participle of Latin admonēre "to give a reminder to, give advice to, caution" (modeled on comestus, past participle of comedere "to eat up, consume") from ad- ad- + monēre "to bring to the notice of, give warning" — more at ¹mind

Note: The source of *admonestāre is uncertain. A cross between admonēre and molestāre, "to disturb, annoy, worry," has been hypothesized, though the lack of any Romance progeny for molestus, molestāre, etc., militates against the presence of this verb in proto-Romance.

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

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